The phenotypic characterization of cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) plays an important role in the generation of information for the conservation of cacao germplasm. The objective of this study is to characterize phenotypically 146 ecotypes of fine-aroma native cacao (FFNC) from northeastern Peru that were collected from 280 to 1265 metres above sea level. Morphological descriptors of fruits and seeds, sensory characteristics, and productivity descriptors were used. The data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics with pie charts, distribution histograms, and multiple correspondence analysis. The results showed that 76.7% of the cocoa ecotypes had green immature fruits, 73% showed slight roughness on the surface of the fruit, 54% showed an intermediate thickness of the fruit wall, and 90% had the appearance of pairs of equidistant ridges. Regarding seed characteristics, 71% showed ...

El Perú cuenta con una alta diversidad de recursos naturales, dentro de ellos es el cultivo de cacao, la zona nororiental es considerada como uno de los centros de origen más importante es éste cultivo. La presente investigación se realiza con el objetico de identificar y seleccionar ecotipos de cacao nativo fino de aroma de la zona nororiental del Perú, para ser incluidos en un banco de germoplasma y un centro de conservación de materiales genéticos promisorios. Cada ecotipo identificado y seleccionado cumplió exigencias estrictas para la elección de plantas, condiciones de vigorosidad, tolerancia a plagas y enfermedades, historial de rendimiento y calidad. Se logró identificar y seleccionar 146 ecotipos de cacao nativo fino de arma, ubicados en diversos pisos altitudinales, sin embargo, se encontró que la mayor diversidad de cacao se encuentra por encima de los 800 msnm.

The authors thank the Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Cientifico, Tecnologico y de Innovacion Tecnologica (FONDECYT) for funding this research through the contract No 026-2016 of the Circulo de Investigacion para la Innovacion y el fortalecimiento de la cadena de valor del cacao nativo fino de aroma en la zona nor oriental del Peru-CINCACAO project, executed by the Instituto de Investigacion para el Desarrollo Sustentable de Ceja de Selva (INDES-CES).

Esta investigación se realizó en el fundo “El Codo”, el distrito de Pajarillo, provincia de Mariscal Cáceres, en el Departamento de San Martín. Se evaluó el efecto de la aplicación de nanoburbujas en un sistema de fertirrigación para la productividad del cacao clon CCN-51, con el fin de optimizar absorción de los nutrientes en el cultivo de cacao. Para ello, se evaluaron diversos parámetros agronómicos, el nivel nutricional, así como la incidencia de enfermedades en el cultivo de cacao CCN 51, utilizando equipos de emisor de nano burbujas por electrolisis. Con esto, se buscó validar una tecnología adecuada para el uso en los sistemas de fertirriego. De la investigación, se pudo determinar que el índice de mazorca fue estable en todos los tratamientos con un valor de 16,2. Además, con la aplicación de nano burbujas se mitigó la incidencia de enfermedades en casi un 4...

Land degradation is a permanent global threat that requires an interdisciplinary approach to addressing solutions in a given territory. This study, therefore, analyses environmentally sensitive areas to land degradation using the Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use (MEDALUS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) method through a multi-criteria approach in the district of Florida (Peru). For the method, we considered the main quality indicators such as: Climate Quality Index (CQI), Soil Quality Index (SQI), Vegetation Quality Index (VQI), and Management Quality Index (MQI). There were also identified groups of parameters for each of the quality indicators analyzed. The results showed that 2.96% of the study area is classified as critical; 48.85% of the surface is classified as fragile; 15.48% of the areas are potentially endangered, and 30.46% are not threatened by degradation pr...

Peru is one of the main producers of fine aroma native cacao, expanding its areas considerably in recent years, which makes it necessary to seek adequate management alternatives to obtain advantageous yields. The present work had the objective of testing the influence of Trichoderma sp. endophytic strains on the agronomic characteristics of ecotypes of Theobroma cacao L. under nursery conditions, Cajaruro district, Utcubamba, Amazonas, Peru. The Trichoderma strains evaluated were Trichoderma breve; T. harzianum; T. longibrachatum; T. afrojarzianum, and Trichoderma sp. which were inoculated on cocoa seedlings of ecotypes CCN51; TCHS565; and nativo fino de aroma. The variables evaluated were chlorophyll indices (at 30, 45, 60, and 70 days after planting), percentage of endophyte colonization, root hair development, trichomes on stems, and agronomic characteristics (plant height, number of ...

Peru is one of the main producers of fine aroma native cacao, expanding its areas considerably in recent years, which makes it necessary to seek adequate management alternatives to obtain advantageous yields. The present work had the objective of testing the influence of Trichoderma sp. endophytic strains on the agronomic characteristics of ecotypes of Theobroma cacao L. under nursery conditions, Cajaruro district, Utcubamba, Amazonas, Peru. The Trichoderma strains evaluated were Trichoderma breve; T. harzianum; T. longibrachatum; T. afrojarzianum, and Trichoderma sp. which were inoculated on cocoa seedlings of ecotypes CCN51; TCHS565; and nativo fino de aroma. The variables evaluated were chlorophyll indices (at 30, 45, 60, and 70 days after planting), percentage of endophyte colonization, root hair development, trichomes on stems, and agronomic characteristics (plant height, number of ...

Over a comprehensive 5-year assessment, and extrapolating it prospectively until 2025, a thorough examination was conducted of productive agrobiodiversity in nine rural agricultural districts across Peru. The present study involved in-depth interviews with 180 representative farmers of the Coast, Highlands, and Jungle natural regions. Employing the Shannon–Weiner diversity index and the Margalef species richness index, the dynamics within years and across different zones were analyzed. Utilizing quadratic trend models, we assessed the frequency of each crop, aiming for the optimal fit concerning absolute deviation from the mean, mean squared deviation, and mean absolute percentage error. These findings revealed five distinct crop types—tuberous, fruits, cereals, legumes, and roots—distributed across 25 diverse families. Looking ahead to 2025, our projections indicated positive tren...

Over a comprehensive 5-year assessment, and extrapolating it prospectively until 2025, a thorough examination was conducted of productive agrobiodiversity in nine rural agricultural districts across Peru. The present study involved in-depth interviews with 180 representative farmers of the Coast, Highlands, and Jungle natural regions. Employing the Shannon–Weiner diversity index and the Margalef species richness index, the dynamics within years and across different zones were analyzed. Utilizing quadratic trend models, we assessed the frequency of each crop, aiming for the optimal fit concerning absolute deviation from the mean, mean squared deviation, and mean absolute percentage error. These findings revealed five distinct crop types—tuberous, fruits, cereals, legumes, and roots—distributed across 25 diverse families. Looking ahead to 2025, our projections indicated positive tren...

Phaseolus vulgaris L. is a legume of high nutraceutical value, widely cultivated and consumed. However, common bean production faces challenges such as water stress that severely affects its growth and yield. This study evaluated the morphological and physiological response of four native P. vulgaris accessions subjected to different irrigation treatments under greenhouse conditions. A completely randomized design with factorial arrangement was used, evaluating three irrigation frequencies (100%, 50%, 25%) in combination with four accessions (PER1003541, PER1003542, PER1003543, PER1003544). The results showed that with the 25% irrigation treatment, PER1003544 showed a 54.62% decrease in leaf area, while PER1003542 and PER1003543 experienced reductions of 56.56% and 59.24%, respectively. In addition, accession PER1003544 reported a smaller reduction in the number of flowers and pods, with...

Phaseolus vulgaris L. is a legume of high nutraceutical value, widely cultivated and consumed. However, common bean production faces challenges such as water stress that severely affects its growth and yield. This study evaluated the morphological and physiological response of four native P. vulgaris accessions subjected to different irrigation treatments under greenhouse conditions. A completely randomized design with factorial arrangement was used, evaluating three irrigation frequencies (100%, 50%, 25%) in combination with four accessions (PER1003541, PER1003542, PER1003543, PER1003544). The results showed that with the 25% irrigation treatment, PER1003544 showed a 54.62% decrease in leaf area, while PER1003542 and PER1003543 experienced reductions of 56.56% and 59.24%, respectively. In addition, accession PER1003544 reported a smaller reduction in the number of flowers and pods, with...

The Andean-Amazonian landscape has been universally recognized for its wide biodiversity, and is considered as global repository of ecosystem services. However, the severe loss of forest cover and rapid reduction of the timber species seriously threaten this ecosystem and biodiversity. In this study, we have modeled the distribution of the ten most exploited timber forest species in Amazonas (Peru) to identify priority areas for forest conservation and restoration. Statistical and cartographic protocols were applied with 4454 species records and 26 environmental variables using a Maximum Entropy model (MaxEnt). The result showed that the altitudinal variable was the main regulatory factor that significantly controls the distribution of the species. We found that nine species are distributed below 1000 m above sea level (a.s.l.), except Cedrela montana, which was distributed above 1500 m ...

The inhabitants of Tunants and Yahuahua face water supply problems in terms of quantity and quality, leading to socio-environmental and health impacts in the areas. The objective of this research, therefore, is to determine the technical and economic feasibility of a proposal for a rainwater harvesting and treatment system for human consumption in the native communities. For the technical feasibility, monthly water demand per family was compared with the amount of water collected in the rainy and dry seasons. In addition, 16 physical, chemical, and microbiological parameters were evaluated at the inlet and outlet of the water system.

Coffee (Coffea arabica) is the main commodity in Peru and is the economic support for thousands of small farmers. However, coffee production is affected by the coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei). Currently, H. hampei is the most important pest in whole coffee-growing regions in Peru. This study aimed to evaluate in vitro biological activity of Beauveria bassiana, Beauveria peruviensis, and Metarhizium sp. against Hypothenemus hampei in two trials at different times. Conidia production, Conidia viability, and pathogenicity against H. hampei were evaluated at three concentrations (1 × 105, 1 × 107, and 1 × 109 conidia/mL−1). In addition, lethal times (LT50 and LT90) and lethal concentrations (LC50 and LC90) were calculated. There were significant differences in conidia production ( < 0.001) and conidia viability ( < 0.041). The highest conidia production and ...

One of the world’s major agricultural crops is rice (Oryza sativa), a staple food for more than half of the global population. In this research, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and optical images are used to analyze the monthly dynamics of this crop in the lower Utcubamba river basin, Peru. In addition, this study addresses the need to obtain accurate and timely information on the areas under cultivation in order to calculate their agricultural production. To achieve this, SAR sensor and Sentinel-2 optical remote sensing images were integrated using computer technology, and the monthly dynamics of the rice crops were analyzed through mapping and geometric calculation of the surveyed areas. An algorithm was developed on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) virtual platform for the classification of the Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 images and a combination of both, the result of which was improved ...

Monitoring and evaluation of landscape fragmentation is important in numerous research areas, such as natural resource protection and management, sustainable development, and climate change. One of the main challenges in image classification is the intricate selection of parameters, as the optimal combination significantly affects the accuracy and reliability of the final results. This research aimed to analyze landscape change and fragmentation in northwestern Peru. We utilized accurate land cover and land use (LULC) maps derived from Landsat imagery using Google Earth Engine (GEE) and ArcGIS software. For this, we identified the best dataset based on its highest overall accuracy, and kappa index; then we performed an analysis of variance (ANOVA) to assess the differences in accuracies among the datasets, finally, we obtained the LULC and fragmentation maps and analyzed them. We generat...

We report a disjunct population of Dicrodon guttulatum Duméril & Bibron, 1839 on the eastern slope of the Cordillera Occidental in the inter-Andean Seasonally Dry Forests of the Marañón River, in the Departments of Cajamarca and Piura in northwestern Peru. We include an updated range distribution map using records from museum specimens, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, and available photographic records on iNaturalist. In addition, we identify widespread cultivation of rice crops as the main threat to D. guttulatum in the inter-Andean Seasonally Dry Forests of the Marañón.

The lily stands out as one of the most economically relevant flowers worldwide and enjoys great popularity as a cut flower in the florist industry. This prominent position underlines the need to implement and continuously improve sustainable protocols that ensure its efficient production, multiplication and conservation. In this context, the present study aimed to investigate the potential biostimulant effect of Silver Nanoparticles (AgNPs) and 6-Benzylaminopurine (BAP) on two lily cultivars (Lilium LA Hybrid ‘Hyde Park’ and Lilium LA Hybrid ‘Yellow Diamond’), through their individual and combined application. The research focused on evaluating the influence of these treatments on two key aspects: (1) regeneration capacity and bulblet development from bulb scales, and (2) morpho-physiological growth parameters in regenerated plants. Analysis of the results revealed several signif...

The study used species distribution models (MaxEnt) to analyze the ecological suitability of the genus Gynoxys in Peru. Bioclimatic, edaphic and topographic variables were integrated to predict areas with high development potential. Potential distribution maps were generated, and model validation showed outstanding performance (AUC > 0.9). The results indicated that variables such as minimum temperature in the warmest season and soil moisture are determinants in the distribution of the Discoide, Gynoxys and Praegynoxys clades. It is concluded that the conservation of the genus requires protection strategies to ensure the sustainability of these montane ecosystems.

Meteorological observations play a major role in land management; thus, it is vital to properly plan the monitoring network of weather stations (WS). This study, therefore, selected ‘highly suitable’ sites with the objective of replanning the WS network in Amazonas, NW Peru. A set of 11 selection criteria for WS sites were identified and mapped in a Geographic Information System, as well as their importance weights were determined using Analytic Hierarchy Process and experts. A map of the suitability of the territory for WS sites was constructed by weighted superimposition of the criteria maps. On this map, the suitability status of the 20 existing WS sites was then assessed and, if necessary, relocated. New ‘highly suitable’ sites were determined by the Near Analysis method using existing WS (some relocated). The territory suitability map for WS showed that 0.3% (108.55 km2) of ...